Tribute to Gandi Mudzingwa

Many a times people wait for the worst to happen for them to come out and appreciate the good works that their fellows have done. Humility and dedication is usually noticed after death, rather society seems to have eyes only for those who have charisma. Who could have pointed at Mai Tsvangirai as one of the most influential change advocates in Zimbabwe, but here we are today wallowing in the realisation that we had an angel amongst us but she is gone!

It is after this introspection that I have realised that, the responsibility lies on those who have worked with somebody to public eulogise his works so that society realises the value of his existence. Those who worked with Jestina Mukoko did it and today we all respect her, so did those who worked with Roy Bennet. So on this regard; I will chronicle what I know of Gandi, what he has done for me and other activists and what he has done for the struggle.

Today, four months after his abduction in Msasa area Gandi Mudzingwa is still in custody. He was detained at Chikurubi Maximum Prison before he was moved to Avenues hospital because of his deteriorating health. He is charged with recruiting people for banditry, insurgency and terrorism training in Botswana.

The first time I met Gandi Mudzingwa was in May 2003 just before the fate “Final Push”. He was in the company of Dennis Murira and Last Maengahama. Then he did not strike any difference in me because he didn’t talk much during that meeting.

I later worked with him on many occasions and to be frank he is the person who necessitated my very first face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in 2004.

It is a fact that many people in MDC who did not come through student activism are sceptical of student leaders. Gandi is the one of the very few people in MDC whose office was open to us when we were students. Yes, he was an aide of President Tsvangirai and his duties did not include entertaining us but he never showed that.

One occasion that he showed this was when Collen Chibango, Arthur Masuka and Killion were arrested for demonstrating against the Treason charges against Mr Tsvangirai. As the then Chairman of the UZ MDC branch I approached Harvest House for legal aid and was referred to one Musekiwa who took the whole day without doing anything. I later called on Nkululeko Sibanda who referred me to Gandi and within a very limited space of time he had engaged the services of a lawyer from Kantor and Immerman.

Of course, I later learnt that although he had not made a name as a student leader, he had been involved in a number of demonstrations against the government even though he was on government scholarship in Russia. This was at the height of Gukurahundi. Contrary to the belief that he is a relative of Morgan Tsvangirai, it was after these demonstrations that he caught the eye of Morgan on one of his early visits to Russia. Since then they have worked together.

This is not the first time that Gandi has been arrested on a number of occasions since 2000 but this has not deterred him from serving the struggle.

It is my hope that with this little information I can also spur others into coming out to condemn the continued detention of this man and two others namely Shadreck Manyere and Kisimusi Dhlamini.

My thoughts are with them